"To my wife, ham radio is about endless litanies of boys toys and nobody listening to what the other has to say."

Women want connection, face-to-face, in conversation. They want eye-contact and know that the listener is paying attention. (Watch as you follow any carload of women. The mirror is for watching the faces in the back seat.) They judge the meaning behind speech by watching the speaker, likely, I suspect, because they're on alert for the veiled snide comment or the other casting an eye on some perceived fashion or hair faux pas. If a man's watching, he's just trying to see if the other man has smelt his silent fart. Otherwise, men could care less. When one is telling a story, the others are thinking up one of their own to tell to top the speaker's. It's difficult to convey a deliberately mean snide remark at the brutish guy. He takes it as competitive kidding.

Now, if you could develop real-motion, multiplexed display television for HF...

Unless the woman is the YL or XYL of a ham, I certainly can understand why they'd not want to associate with us misfit, beer-bellied, unshaven, poorly dressed, messy-haired bunch of societal detritus...unless they were ALSO misfits, beer-bellied, unshaven, poorly dressed and messy-haired, in which case, they'd be right at home at some of the hamfests I've attended.

Consider the counter question. Why are men interested in ham radio? Obviously, there are lots of very different reasons OM pursue ham radio.

Why anyone chooses to participate in an activity or not is the payoff. This applies to both genders. If Ham radio doesn't appeal to someone it is because there is no perceived benefit either personally or socially. I didn't get involved in Ham radio for social reasons. I did it because of the intrigue of radio. However, I have made some good friends anyway I'd never have met otherwise.

________________________

quote,

"...misfit, beer-bellied, unshaven, poorly dressed, messy-haired..."

You left out "smelly."

________________________

OK, but seriously, to find out why so few of the hams are women, we have to modify the question.

Many (if not nearly all) men make the mistake of thinking women think like we do. I do not believe there is an answer to the general question, "why aren't more 'women' hams?"

It is better asked as a question to an individual woman. If you want to know why a specific woman is not interested in Ham radio, you should ask her, an individual.

________________________

Now let's all "get in touch with our feelings" and "share our experiences" about ham radio.

<say that phrase at a ham club meeting and see what happens!!!! I'd buy tickets to watch that!>

Women are wired a little diferent. Men seem to have the Three Stooges gene and women have the shopping gene.

Lately the people I've talked to mostly younger ones have no idea what Ham Radio is when I tell them the very first question they ask is what do you talk about ? They cannot understand what a guy could possibly be talking about to a stranger perhaps in another country. I explain it this way what do you talk about at a party where you don't know anyone ? It's a good way to be socially active and it's a lot of fun.

The technical stuff can be a turnoff as woman are generally left brain not right.

I don't think this is something that just happened in the last decade or two, I believe it's always been this way. Kap KB1TJK

This book appears to address some of these issues from an outsider's and female view of the hobby. I haven't read the boook, but judging from the reviews and a peek into the availble preview, the author seems to draw some interesting, if not misandrogistic inferences about those that are attracted to the hobby. As a ham of over 36 years, I can understand why some hams could be upset with her take on amateur radio. Sometimes it's revealing what someone outside our ranks perceives about us beyond our myopia.

My wife is a ham, she got her ticket a year or so ago. She knew most of the club members already after coming to things like field day, hamfests, dayton, etc. She does not get on the air that much.

She's had a few bad experiences, we had a club member that liked to bother her anytime I would step away for a few mins. He'd say all sorts of creepy things. He touched her. We basically had to have the guy removed from the club and threaten him with legal action. Hence, her opinion of many hams is that they are creepy, dirty old men.

She does want to get her general so she can get on HF. Digital modes and CW seem appealing to her.

This discussion touches on a very interesting topic. After reading your entry, I followed your link to Amazon's listing of "Ham Radio's Technical Culture (Inside Technology)". I was so fascinated after reading some of the excerpts that I went ahead and bought the book.

We definitely need more women in the hobby, and we guys need to get off our duffs and do other stuff, too. I'm into biking, and there you find a pretty nice mix of men and women. Not 50/50, but a lot better than the ratio for ham radio.

This book appears to address some of these issues from an outsider's and female view of the hobby. I haven't read the boook, but judging from the reviews and a peek into the availble preview, the author seems to draw some interesting, if not misandrogistic inferences about those that are attracted to the hobby. As a ham of over 36 years, I can understand why some hams could be upset with her take on amateur radio. Sometimes it's revealing what someone outside our ranks perceives about us beyond our myopia.

You are all making this too complicated. Most women don't become hams because theyDON'T WANT TO! Just like they don't want to join in on the friday night poker game and drink beer and smoke cigars or join in all the other male activities we may enjoy.Allen

After I got my license, my XYL (We're both 30 ish) noticed that there was a new radio in the 4x4 (IC-2200), and the other radio (IC-400Pro [UHF CB]) had moved to a different spot. I was impressed enough that she noticed that small change. She asked what the new radio was for, and she listened attentively for the 3 minute spiel.

Her question at the end of it all? "So, if something goes really wrong and you get hurt, can I use either of the radios to call someone for help without having a callsign?"

So, she understands my interest in it all, and she can see the practical side of it, but has no interest in it herself. Each to their own. I'm not overly interested in her "Wine Tour" weekends either, but I can see the practical side of it!

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